Travel to two of Scandinavia's hippest cities - separated only by a short bridge - and explore the shopping, streets and sights.
In July 2000 a bridge was built which joins Denmark and Sweden for the first time since the ice age. It spans the Oresund - the narrow Baltic straits between Malmo, Sweden’s third city and Copenhagen, and has created a new region called, unsurprisingly, the Oresund Region. The two cities on either side of the water have their own distinctive character and a short drive across the bridge takes you from one country to the other. As well as a four-lane highway it carries a double track railway from the heart of Copenhagen to the centre of Malmo.
Denmark - World Famous Amusement Park
To call the Copenhagen Tivoli Gardens an amusement park is to put it in the same category as Surfers Paradise and Coney Island. Certainly there are hair-raising rides as well as attractions and sideshows, but Tivoli is also a lush playground of huge trees, fountains, lakes and rose gardens. The style of the buildings is inspired by faraway places: Arabian palaces, Viennese music halls, Chinese pagodas and American colonial mansions.
Behind the Tivoli Gardens is Radhuspladsen, the Town Hall Square, a large open space buzzing with buskers and home to the Radhus (the Town Hall) where, alongside, is a sculpture of two men playing large curved horns which are said to play when a virgin passes by. And just off the Square is Strøget, the longest pedestrianised street in Europe . Strolling down Strøget is a lively journey.
Denmark - Hans Christian Anderson
Carry on to the end of Strøget to Kongens Nytorv, the city’s grandest square which leads you off to Nyhavn, with its cobbled quayside, pretty pastel houses and fishing boats and many canal-side cafes. Hans Christian Andersen lived here and in 1835 started writing his fairy tales which captured the imagination of children all over the world.
One of his creations, the Little Mermaid, has become the most famous symbol of Copenhagen.Since 1913 she has been sitting on a rock just off the harbour bank in the gardens of the Kastellet park, about a fifteen minute walk north of Nyhavn.
Sweden - Malmo
For a spectacular view of the bridge, take the ferry across to Malmo. Sweden has been described as “the biggest sausage in the Scandinavian sizzle”, covering an area of 450,000 sq.km., and Malmo is its third largest city. It feels more like a small town and is decidedly un-touristy, surrounded by canals and parks and with many pedestrianised streets.
An unusual aspect of Malmo is that it is a city with its own beach, which is only a half hour walk from the centre. The beach, called Ribersborg, can be reached by walking through Kungsparken (The King’s Park)..
There’s lots of nudity at Ribersborg beach, so don’t come if you are easily embarrassed. It’s a quiet sort of place, with clothed and nude mixing comfortably, and a good spot on a hot day with a cool breeze wafting in from the Oresund.
A forty-five minute walk back from the beach to the ferry or to Central Station to board the train for the trip across the Oresund - from one country to another in just ten minutes
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